Forum: Do-gooder soft drink tax a far cry from good ol’ days

The Illinois sugar soft drink tax idea is reminiscent of the nutty New York mayor’s idea to limit soft drink sizes. The world has gone mad.

While some states make recreational marijuana legal, Illinois is going to tax sugar drinks. What a crock! It is frightening to imagine what the government and do-gooders will come up with next.

I recall the 1950s, being raised in LaSalle-Peru. The cafeteria at my high school fixed what they darn pleased. My dad had a bakery in LaSalle. The same went there.

FOID cards? Don’t get me started! Back then, on my way hunting, I could walk in the Sportsman’s Hub and Cigar Store in downtown Peru and purchase shotgun and rifle ammo while wearing my holstered, 22 Ruger pistol on my hip. No one gave it a thought.

When hunting pheasants near Lostant, my dad and I would walk to a local restaurant for lunch and set our exposed shotguns against the counter. No one cared. All the hunters did it.

I could buy smokes at 15 years old, or even younger. No questions asked. Cigarettes at 25 cents a pack and nickel cigars and I could smoke most anywhere (except in front of my parents). On my 17th birthday, I was given a carton of my favorite cigarettes and a Zippo lighter.

I do not smoke or kill things anymore. Nor do I drink sugary drinks or consume trans fats. But I hate having my rights taken away or modified by double-standard do-gooders and politicians. What insanity will be mandated next? Perhaps the government could tax obesity itself! The “Biggest Loser” program would be overrun with panicked contestants.